Is "Necro-ing" REALLY such a bad thing?

  • "Due to this thread being necro'd, we've gone ahead and locked it."
    "Due to the high number of threads about this topic, this one is getting locked."

    So wait... Posting in old topics is frowned upon? So if a topic is "too old", you're supposed to create a new one. Yet if too many threads get created about a specific topic, it's gonna get locked anyways.

    Can't tell you how many times I've gone to reply to a thread, only to stop last minute because I noticed a months-long gap between recent posts.

    "Oops, I guess I'm not allowed to post here, 'cause somebody else dug it up, even though they added a unique perspective, which warrants further discussion. Nope, better to make a completely new thread. It's ok, if I want to reference ANY of the information that's already been discussed, I can post a link for people to go to that thread, read it, come back to mine, and continue the discussion. Whatever you do, don't discuss it in the old thread tho..."

    It doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. If Necro-ing is such a problem that you have to lock every thread that gets necro'd, why not just auto-lock threads after a set amount of time, and save y'all the trouble??

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  • @deliciouspack Yeah it's a tough balance to strike but it looks like the accepted method is to create a new topic.

    I think they'll allow necroing if there is some sort of new value added to the discussion but if it's just a rehash of something already there then I think we are supposed to make a new topic.

  • A lot of forums I've been on over the years have only allowed Necroing when a user could add something new and insightful to the discussion, which could apply here.
    But I think, given the large amount of members here, the rule works as is. There's just always going to be either a huge, dedicated thread for popular topics, or and endless stream of new topics about the same thing.

    Keeping the dead ones under wraps seems like a reasonable solution to avoid 10 topics about the same thing, with hugely varying ages between them. It keeps all discussions rather new and relevant.

  • I can't wait for this to get necro'd in 3 months with a

    "Yes it is"

  • @deliciouspack Auto-locking threads is something that will be coming down the road, it's been put on the back-burner for the time being while the team focuses on improvements to the UI and layout of the forums.

  • I made my feelings known on this some time ago. I find it very odd that EVERY topic that gets brought up that's older than a week or so gets locked.

    Some topics are ongoing discussions that are still very valid and I don't think they should be locked.

    Back when I was a younger lad and I used to mod a music discussion forum we were told to only lock threads if they become irrelevant or were turning nasty.

    It seems counter productive to get people to make new threads on the same topics. I get that some become outdated as things change with updates but a lot of the locked threads are still valid discussions.

    But that's just my opinion and I can only guess there is some unseen logic here.

  • @realstyli If a thread is only a week or two old it does not count as being necro’d and would not have been locked for that reason. There may be other reasons why it was locked instead, if you do have any questions about why a certain thread was locked please feel free to send any Deckhand a chat and we’d be more than happy to review it with you!

  • @dhg-ixxrmacxxi said in Is "Necro-ing" REALLY such a bad thing?:

    @realstyli If a thread is only a week or two old it does not count as being necro’d and would not have been locked for that reason. There may be other reasons why it was locked instead, if you do have any questions about why a certain thread was locked please feel free to send any Deckhand a chat and we’d be more than happy to review it with you!

    Okay, fair play, maybe "a week or two old" was hyperbole on my part, I will admit, but I stand by my point that not all resurrections of older threads are bad. We have countless threads on some topics (PC vs Xbox One being an example).

    As I said, it's only my opinion though. I'm not blaming any deckhands, by the way, I know you're all only following the rules as they're laid out.

  • @deliciouspack

    When the forum was young, we'd have a lot of threads speculating ideas and full of suggestions which remain relevant even today because it's content we'd love to see or tweaks for existing content.

    However, where we see threads in which the original post is outdated, incorrect or already addressed, there's no real purpose to the discussion being brought back. In which case we will generally lock it, but also use our discretion to ensure it's not just an automatic response.

    We'll also now and then redirect threads to existing more established topics but the general feeling seemed to be that new threads have been created due to a particular 'take' on an idea wanting to be explored further.

    I think what's important is that the .... rather idiosyncratic search function is used to it's best ability to ensure that threads brought back are still relevant and up to date.

  • @hoppentosse said in Is "Necro-ing" REALLY such a bad thing?:

    @deliciouspack don't rage, calm down, my dear.

    Lol how did he rage? Seemed like the OP was pretty calm.

  • @katttruewalker said in Is "Necro-ing" REALLY such a bad thing?:

    However, where we see threads in which the original post is outdated, incorrect or already addressed, there's no real purpose to the discussion being brought back. In which case we will generally lock it, but also use our discretion to ensure it's not just an automatic response.

    I agree with what you're saying, Katt, but here's an example of a thread which I don't think should have been locked so quickly...

    https://www.seaofthieves.com/forum/topic/62134/who-else-greatly-dislikes-the-wilds-portion-of-the-map/54

    I get that the original post was made 2 months ago and went over a month without a response but, judging by the amount of new replies in a short time, there was clearly still a want to to discuss it further.

    The Wilds are still in the game and haven't changed significantly enough that this would be an outdated topic yet.

    The original necro poster could have made a new topic but that would have lost the discussion that went previous.

    Most necros are indeed unnecessary (when they refer to older builds), and should result in locks but I think Rare (admins) should allow Deckhands more room to make a judgement call on it.

  • @dhg-ixxrmacxxi I have sent deckhands direct questions before about certain things and have never once received a reply. Just saying...

  • There is nothing wrong with necro posting

  • As this thread was over 2 years old and revived today, it will now be locked.

    A general reminder to all, please avoid reviving threads aged past 30 days, as it is considered a necro, and is against our Forum Rules.

    Bumping Threads
    Bumping threads with content that is not providing additional information to the original post is not permitted. Resurrecting very old threads is also not permitted. A warning will be issued and the thread locked. Ignoring the warning will result in a temporary ban from the Forums and a final warning. If the action continues, a permanent ban from the Forums will be issued.

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